Tulane University Freeman School BLOG

I get a few questions a week from prospective students. The below exchange seems broad enough that I thought I’d turn it loose to everyone.

Hi Joel,

Currently considering Tulane or SMU (Dallas) for an MBA.
My undergrad is in Computer Sciences. I am employed as a
Systems/Network Engineer in New Orleans but contemplating somewhat of
a career change (may be not change but lateral shift, as i don't want
to completely abandon my tech background). From your experience, does
Tulane have a strong Career Service? Is it possible to get mentored by
some of the alumni?
Overall how is the Tulane network? Finally, do PMBA students have
access to the same resources as Full time MBA students? Do
prospective employers make a distinction between PMBA and Full time
MBA's?

Hi xxx,

Thanks for your email! Glad you were able to find the blog and I’m happy you’re considering Tulane.

I can only speak to my experiences with the career center, other students have had better/worse experiences, I’m sure. As you’ve read on the blog in the past, I preach a lot about ‘the network.’ A big part of the reason people go back to bschool these days is to build that network of friends and colleagues that you’ll have for life and who can help you later in your career and vice-versa. That said, I find myself leveraging my own personal network pre-Tulane in order to assist with my job search (and get my internship this past summer). The CMC has been…lacking, in my opinion since I got here. My class was the first one post Katrina. The CMC director at the time wasn’t doing a great job (so I’m told) and so the administration canned him/her before I had even started. The search was on for almost my entire first year before they hired someone (Edmund Hughes) who was originally just a temp. No one in my class and none of the students on the selection committee got any real warm fuzzies about him – why Tulane hired him is beyond me. He’s not very visible at a student level and doesn’t elicit a big teamwork attitude with us/him in the job search process.

That said, I think the CMC is making big strides with this year’s 1st year MBA class, and focusing on them more than they are on us, which is a little frustrating for me, but doesn’t matter for you. The CMC is definitely still in growth mode, and all the aphorisms like ‘you get out of it what you put into it’ are likely going to ring true for the next year. If you’re looking for a school with a CMC that FINDS its students jobs and internships, this ain’t it. If you’re looking for a CMC that will help you with what you ask for, Tulane may be it. Bottom line for me is that I’m largely on my own to find a job, the CMC’s resources are there to help me if I wish (mock interviews, resume reviews, valut.com, erecruiting.com, company visits, etc.), but they’re not bending over backwards to reach out to me if I don’t reach out to them.

But, the faculty connections are amazing! (And this I think is more important) The faculty here have great connections (mostly in energy/finance, some in entrepreneurship) and if you really connect w/a faculty person they’ll open all kinds of amazing doors for you. Professor McNew has personally gotten over 30 kids jobs in high paying finance in new York, London, etc. I’m trying to get a foot in the door at [insert large Ibank here] and she knew the exact person I spoke with, because he manages a few of her millions. So a lot of our professors are pretty serious heavy hitters in the real world – they’ve done a good job at building and maintaining their networks, and it’s helping us as students a ton. This is what I’d advise any incoming student to leverage more than the CMC, but again, I think the CMC is still growing and has a lot of potential.

The Tulane alumni network isn’t as strong as a Harvard/Stanford network. I worked in venture capital this summer and EVERYONE went to either Stanford or Harvard and it’s very hard to break into that. That said, I think this is one of those areas that if you’re passionate about a specific company or industry and you find a like minded alum, that the sky’s the limit. I know students who’ve made some great alumni connections. So I think the answer to this is, again, it’s up to you.

PMBA’s have access to all the resources that MBA’s do, as far as I know. I have a few classes with PMBA’s – there’s no difference in how we’re graded or what the material is.

I hope this helps! I’d LOVE for you to decide to attend Tulane, but I want you (and all prospective students) to make the most informed decision as possible. The above is 100% honest, no matter how bad or good it reads. I’d never want to influence a potential student to attend Tulane only to have them get here and say, “it’s not like how you said it would be.” That’s the Admission Office’s job

Whew! That was quite a brain dump for a Sunday evening, but rereading it now I think it’s pretty accurate. -Joel Yarmon

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